All Roads Lead to the Normandy
by Aly91
Summary: Grace was average, hell her life was incredibly uneventful. She was not ready for any life changing happenstances, let alone one that would leave her broken and ready to risk everything to stop the evil she knew was coming. It's time for war. An OC story that I hope will be dark, so warning for whatever my wicked mind will come up with.


**This is my first actual self insert, I can't say that I would do any of these things if they actually happened, but I mean who wouldn't like to believe they could be a hero!? So the character is based loosely on me, but I will deviate some (ie, no glasses cause let's face it, they'd hinder anyone). Enjoy~**

I always went to Mass Effect when I was bored and had a chunk of time to kill. Sims was a game I had to be in the mood for, Dragon Age too since I beat it multiple times and watched friends play it so much, and most others were better with two or more players. Therefore, Mass Effect was what I decided to play the night the accident went down. The cable was out due to a weird storm, it was so calm and clear yet lightning kept cracking above the little apartment.

"Sissy," my brother poked his head in for the umpteenth time, the nickname sticking despite him being nineteen now, it was endearing to me though.

"Yo, bro," the usual greeting as he plopped on my bed, ignoring my bowl of grapes sitting precariously beside me, spilling them all over my bed.

"Shit, sorry. I'll clean it up don't worry," he ignored my half-hearted glare and eye roll as he picked up the mess he made, some that landed on the floor some still across my unmade bed.

"You messed one." I threw the lone grape at his head, the little thing uselessly bouncing off. I regretted it when I saw the look of revenge cross his face, the same I had. Wicked smile, glancing up and to the side to try to seem more intimidating, though he didn't have to work as hard. The woes of being considered 'cute' was that nobody took me seriously. Being 5'1" and a whopping 97 pounds kind of made every threat seem utterly laughable, especially since I was twenty-four.

My brother was possibly one of my dearest friends, despite him being a bit of a dick. I mean, we've known and lived with each other for 19 years, how could you not be close after all the crazy shit we got into. But that night it seemed he decided to be my sworn enemy, as he dumped my entire bowl of grapes on my head, they went everywhere. I mirrored his look from before, annoyance seeping through. Of course that wouldn't scare him, I probably couldn't scare the damned cowardly lion. He dashed away, laughing and squealing like a little girl being chased by a spider.

I took a deep, calming breath, turning back to the game to block out the loud storm and my brother's loud singing (it was a wonder that there wasn't a noise complaint ever issued). The one bad thing about me playing choose your path games was that I was never able to be solely bad. This was the time though, I'd be the total opposite of my normal path; male renegade! I already knew I'd probably choose Liara or Jack for my romance, they were the best girls in my opinion. He was perfect, short blonde hair similar to Kaiden's with steel gray eyes, deceivingly pretty for a man who'd shoot you in the back if you crossed him or his crew.

A bright red flash lit up my room, making me freeze for a moment. Lighting wasn't normally red, so it must have been a siren or something. I slowly turned to peek out the window, wondering what the hell was going on. I was shocked when another flash of red lit up the sky, yeah… definitely not a rescue vehicle's lights. I really wished we had the apartment with a basement instead, sure, it was a few hundred more but right now that would be piece of mind.

Another flash, this time looking almost purple, lit up the sky. With a heart in my throat, I backed from the window, controller still in hand. This storm was horrifying.

"Sissy," my brother rushed into the room, his eyes terrified. I rarely had to comfort my brother, he was always pretty tough, but in that moment I did the only thing that came to mind. I threw down my controller and grabbed his hands, anchoring him to me.

"Corey, look at me," his eyes, hazel like mine, stared into mine, "we'll be fine. Everything will be okay, just a little lightning and wind."

"Sis, lightning is white, maybe blue sure," he clutched my hand hard when a loud boom shook our apartment building, "this isn't normal, don't be stupid."

My temper flared for a moment, but the brightest flash I've ever seen blinded me momentarily, so bright that I knew the white would be seared into my retinas when I opened them. For a moment I could not hear, could not feel. It felt like I was floating in nothingness, but my feet were still firmly on the ground. Finally, the silence turned to ringing as my senses came back, but it didn't smell right. For some reason it felt like I was outside, my eyes still burned, whiteness was the only thing I could see.

"Commander, watch out," the voice sounded familiar, was that Ashley? The game must still be playing; I was shocked the electricity was still on.

The feeling of something whizzing past my face made my heart freeze. Something almost hit me, it felt like I was about to pass out when a large heavy mass fell against me. It was hard, dear god did my television fall? I still couldn't see, but at least that unbearable white was fading to a dull, dark gray.

"Corey?" I let out a whimper, hoping he was better off, at least able to help me. I could have gone blind, the thought sent my mind reeling, this couldn't be happening, "Corey help me!" I finally screamed out, not caring about our neighbors, I couldn't hear him next to me. It felt like I was going to throw up, a coppery, bitter taste in my mouth.

"Commander, it's a survivor," another voice, Kaidan's, was very close to me now. With all my might I pushed off the large mass above me, it didn't feel like a tv, what the hell was going on?

Hands were then on me, trying to pull me up and right me, but it's a hard task when the person you were helping couldn't see and didn't know their surroundings.

"Corey? Corey answer me," I was crying now, as tough as I tried to be, as much as I tried to steady my emotions. I was scared, my life now changed. I was blind, at least temporarily, and in the middle of a horrible storm.

"My name is Shepard," a deep voice said, "are you ok?"

That coppery taste turned sour, and the next thing I knew I was doubled over and tasted my grapes for a second time. God did I hate puking.

A hand was on my back, supporting me then, "what's wrong with her?" Ashley's voice sounded concerned. Definitely not from my TV, what is wrong with me!? Mass effect characters were talking to me, touching me, I must be knocked out, yeah I was still in my room, I just hit my head or something. Corey would be hovering over me, panicking. I would wake up in a hospital.

"Corey, where's Corey?" I sounded more hysteric than I felt; they were probably all giving each other that damned sympathetic look. I finally looked up, glaring where all the voices came from. A gasp stopped me cold, I felt like things just got tense.

"Her eyes," Kaidan said, "what did they do to her eyes!?"

The panic in his voice didn't help quell my panic, and I ran my fingers over my sockets, "I can't see, the light was too bright. Where's my brother?"

A silence went through the group as they stared at me; I could feel their eyes boring into me. My own eyes didn't feel any different, no pain, no disfigurement, I just couldn't see.

"What does your brother look like," Ashley asked delicately, as if she was talking to a fucking child. It wasn't her fault, but those words broke the camel's back.

"What the hell do you mean!? He looks like me; he is my baby brother. He's a good foot taller, dark hair, hazel eyes like mine. Is he here, I can't see. I'll wake up, it will be fine, I'll be able to see and Corey will drive us both home and everything will be just hunky dory," I slowly lost my fire, until finally my voice whimpered out, "Corey?"

I could hear them muttering amongst themselves, as if they were trying to decide what to do with some little stray they couldn't just kick to the curb. They knew I was hysterical, no doubt. My hopes of this just being some dream were dying as I felt the sun beat down and a cool breeze sweep my cropped hair.

"I think he's dead," the deep voice I now associated with male Shepard finally broke out of all the mutterings. I felt my whole body run cold. Dead? No, not him, not Corey. He was strong, smart, and he was better than most people I knew. I was the older sibling but I still sometimes went to him for help or advice. My head felt light as I tried to stumble away, what was I supposed to do now? I tripped over something hard and metal, barely able to catch myself. My knees felt at least bruised and my hands landed on something softer as they searched the ground.

"Where am I?" my voice sounded defeated, my brother was dead? I knew I should believe them, they had no reason to lie, but part of me thought they were wrong. Corey was too tough to die; he was too smart.

"Near the camp," Shepard was the one to respond, "would you like us to take your brother's body to your house."

My mind was whirring, "I don't have a home anymore."

"She can come with us," Kaidan spoke up, his voice was hopeful and strained, "we can get her somewhere safe where they can look at her eyes. I don't know what the geth did to them but something is obviously off about them."

I felt a surge of gratitude for the man; he was always a favorite of mine in the game. Sure, he ditched Shepard in the second game in his time of need, but for this one and the third game, he was a good man.

An annoyed sigh issued from the space beside me, "that's fine. Just keep her out of the line of fire; she's your responsibility now, Alenko."

"What's your name?" Kaidan asked.

"Grace, my name is Grace."

I felt myself getting gently pulled to my feet and tugged behind, continuing the journey. The party was quiet; Shepard was done with questioning Ashley about what was happening at Eden Prime. It seemed like this particular Shepard was not my usual paragon with a heart of gold. This made me feel safe from enemies but with my newfound lack of luck, he would just as easily throw me out on my ass.

"Easy there, Grace, we're going up a hill now," Kaidan's voice came from my side, his hand on my shoulder as he guided me up. I knew where I was in the game now at least. It wouldn't be long before they ran into the husks.

"Kaidan, there are some enemies up ahead," I hated husks, anything zombie like creeped me out. There was no way I stood a chance against them in my current state.

"Don't worry, you can stay behind cover until its safe," he assured, but he didn't know what I did. Cover never worked with Husks, they ran at you. The fact I would be behind some rocks wouldn't keep me out of harm's way.

I nodded, how was I suppose to tell him that I knew what was up ahead when I obviously couldn't even see. The clanking of the metal spike descending made me tense up. Kaidan was ready though, and pushed me behind a rock near him. I knelt down, knees to my chest as gunfire erupted. The groans and yells were disorienting to me. My blood ran cold when I heard a hiss in my ear, falling to the ground with a heavy weight on my chest.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. I knew what was on me; I could envision it clawing at my arms that I lifted to try to protect my face. I didn't need to see. So I reached my hands, grabbing onto the things head, with all my weight I twisted my body around. The thing flipped over, hands still flogging me, but I was on top now. The adrenaline helped me, giving me the strength to bash its head in on the rock that I was hiding behind. I didn't stop until it ceased its thrashing, I could hear my heart beating, the adrenaline coursing through my body. I sat back on my heels, my back against the rock that became my weapon. The gunfire died down with my heartbeat, though my nerves were still high.

"Are you okay?" Kaidan was at my side again, "did you do that?"

I was oddly upset that he let a Husk break through the ranks and get to me, "who the hell do you think did it!? Yes it was me; the Husk got past you. It could have killed me."

"You managed to save yourself," Shepard interjected, "we have to move on and find this beacon. Are you fit to continue?"

"Yes," I nodded as I stared at the space I heard the soon to be Specter's voice come from, "I guess it takes more than a Husk to put me out of commission."

"Good," he turned his attention to Ash, "you keep point, make sure nothing gets by you."

"Yes, sir."

The group continued on their mission; Shepard knocked out the researcher, as I expected. We were making our way across the metal bridge when the sound of a shot echoed.

"What is that, off in the distance," Kaidan halted me.

"It looks like a ship," Ashley answered. I shuddered; it was Sovereign no doubt.

"Saren," I hissed under my breath, I had nothing against the poor indoctrinated turian. I liked turians, to me they were the species most like humans, though with a more militaristic background. Besides, it wasn't Saren's fault he was being controlled.

Shepard must have heard me, because he repeated the name under his breath, wondering what I was talking about. I kept quiet though; I was already under scrutiny and now was not the time to be interrogated.

More fighting started up, this time the group didn't let anything get past them. I was impressed at their efficiency, the sound of biotics and the firefight echoed off the cliffs. We rescued the group of civilians, not too long after. Shepard considered leaving me there, but I obviously needed medical care that the little war beaten colony could not offer.

Great, more stairs, they were becoming tiresome. We found Nihlus's body then, and there was a moment of silence before it was broken.

"Something's moving! Over behind those crates!" Ashley pulled out a gun.

"Wait! Don't—Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human."

"I like the way you hid behind those crates during the fight. Really helped us out. Thanks a lot." Damn, Renegade Shepard was a sarcastic ass, good thing I could get along with the biggest of asses.

"Me? But… but I'm just a dockworker. I don't even have a weapon. My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

"Grace here took out a Husk and she was blind and weaponless," Ashley sneered under her breath.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shepard didn't pay the lieutenant any mind.

"There were two turians here. Your friend and another one he called Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down… and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

Shepard repeated the name under his breath again. I was worried he was figuring out I knew something, the way the named rolled in his mouth, like he remembered himself saying it just earlier.

"We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?" I let out a mental sigh of relief, back to business. I still had no idea what I was going to say about my knowing about Saren.

"It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy, Saren, was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend. I knew the beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead, too!"

"We need to find that beacon before it's too late," Shepard finally said, after questioning and giving him a verbal beat down.

It was hard going then, Kaidan pushing me behind cover whenever there was a fight ahead. I could hear the bullets hit the metal crate I was behind, they were aiming for me too. I couldn't get hit, without armor I was a sitting duck. Silence again; and then Kaidan announced that the perimeter was secure. We hurried along; I wasn't struggling as much to keep up on the even terrain now, thank god. Shepard activated the train controls. I felt the ground lurch before getting use to the movement.

"Demolition charges, the geth must have planted them," Kaidan announced, we had just exited the little tram before, surprise, more trouble. It was a lot less fun now that I was in the game, and blind.

"Hurry, we have to deactivate them all," Ashley urged us on. Shepard made quick work of the first one as Kaidan pulled me along.

"Stay here, I'll come back when it's safe," and with that he left me behind an L shaped box stack. My entire body was shaking when Kaidan finally returned, it felt like everything was finally catching up to me, bottling it up wouldn't hold much more. He didn't comment on my strained state, putting a supportive hand on my shoulder and leading me back to the others.

I sat on a crate, as the others looked around. How long was it going to take Shepard to be hit with the beacon? I understood he had to get all the spare equipment and information he could gather, but for Christ's sake, I wanted to go. I didn't have that much hope, the technological advancements that may be able to save any sort of vision was going to be steep, and I had no money to my name here. Wonder if they took loans on treatments.

""Normandy, the beacon is secure," Shepard's voice finally cut through the eerie quiet.

"This is amazing, actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!" Kaidan sounded so awed that I could just picture his face.

"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up. Something must've activated it," Ashley, I could envision, approached.

"Roger Normandy, standing by," Shepard spoke into his com, but Ashley and Kaidan's gasp interrupted his train of thought.

"Shepard!" she called out, getting sucked into the beacon's own little gravitational pull. I knew what happened next by heart, having played the game twice already. Shepard latching arms around their companion, throwing them away bodily before getting lifted and shown horrible images. It must have been horrifying to see in real life.

"No! Don't touch him! It's too dangerous!" Kaidan commanded, his voice strained. He probably wanted to save his commander too, but knew he couldn't. My nails dug into the skin of my thigh as I, for the first time, witnessed what happened next.

"Williams, help me carry him, we have to get to a place we can rendezvous with the Normandy," Kaidan barked out his orders like a pro, "Normandy, this is Lieutenant Alenko, we have a man down. The beacon did something to Shepard; we need medical assistance and a pick up."

There was a tense silence as he listened to a reply, "roger that." He then directed us to where the Mako would pick us up. I couldn't help but feel some amount of respect for Kaidan then, he led Ashley and I like a pro, getting us all to safety before we were picked up, making stops for the dead. I assumed it would be Jenkins body that was carefully set next to me, before we took off. I felt a numbing relief wash over me as I let all my pent up tension go. We were safe, I managed to survive and now I would get help as long as it didn't cost an arm and a leg, though I'd gladly give both up to be able to see again. I started when I felt a hand on my shoulder, a soft female voice seemed to echo in my head.

"Grace, are you okay? You're safe now," Ashley tried her best to calm my anxiety, "Kaidan, she's freezing and not responding."

It was strange, I heard everything said, felt a stronger hand touch my face for a moment before pulling away.

"Shit, I think she might be shocky," Kaidan, I could tell was worried too, "Grace, listen to me, just concentrate on your breathing. Ashley, get her something to warm her up. I felt soft material settle around me, it smelt familiar, like cigarette smoke and something else. Everything came to a screeching halt as I fingered the plush material. I knew what it was; I had bought it for my brother for his birthday, tired of him always stealing my blankets to stay warm in the usually too cool apartment. Wrapped around me was Corey's robe, the one he was wearing when I went blind. I felt vertigo I knew wasn't from the Mako rocketing to the Normandy. Corey was there, he really did come with me. Despite my inability to see, the world seemed to sway, everything was wrong. This wasn't happening. Kaidan's words rung in my head from when I was pushed into the Mako.

'_We have to collect the dead first, they deserve a burial.'_

Everything ceased as my brain stopped functioning properly.


End file.
